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Patented Oct 21, 1919.

zg m By E. H. UGGON.

TOY MACHINE GUN.

APPLICATION HLED 05c. 21. 1am.

THE o ma PLANOGRAPII cm. usmxarou, n. C-

EDGAR H. LIGG61\T,-0IE RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

TOY MACHINE-GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent. I Pa ljten t edojc t. 21, I919 Applic'ationfiled December 27, 1918. Serial- N0. 268,564.

To aZZw'homz't may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR H. LI'GGoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Toy Machine-Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relatesto a toy machine gun, and one of its objects is to providea toy gun which is simple of construction, reliable and efficient in action, and composed of a comparatively small number of parts of a kind notliable to clog-or otherwise get out of order.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toy gun which will rapidly the small shot or similar projectiles, which may be manufactured-and sold at a comparatively low cost, which will be instructive and cause interest and enjoyment without being dangerous or-destructive in the hands of the younggand which may beoperated'by handor spring motive power, as desired.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts. hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which v Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section through a toy machine gun constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the breech portion of the :gun with the coverof-the casingof "the breech and magazine removed.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse section on line' lt of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail longitudinal section through the barrel and breech,'showing the plunger retracte Fig. 6 is a-fragm'enta-ry-detail perspec tive view ofthe plunger rod. 1

Fig. 7 is a viewvin side elevation of the gun, with the adjacent side plate of -the-casing removed, showing a spring motor firing mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a detail viewsof vice shown in Fig.7. 7 I

Referring to the drawing, -lldesignates a the locking 'deadapted tobe compressed on its working stroke to base, pedestal or other suitable -m'ount, on which is supported agcasing or hopper 2 which incloses the rear end of the barrel 3 and the breech 4 of the gun, sa'idbarrel3 being of circular or other suitable form in cross section and provided with'a bore-5 for the discharge of the projectile.

Thebreec-h 4 is'o'f=square orother suitable angular :form in-cros's section and issuitably secured at it's "forward end to the rear end of the barrel 3. As shown the breech is completely inclosed within the casing or hopper 2, which is of rectangular or 'othersuitable form and to the underside of which is secured a disk 6. A screw 7 extends loosely through j an opening threaded =in'to'the base, thus securing the gun to the base, and the head of the screw-is countersunk inthe disk and confined between the disk and easing, saidscrew-head forming a pivot on which the casing may turn, whereby a turn-table construction is provided adapting the gun barrel to 'be swung laterally to train or sight it upon an'obj ect. At the rear: end of the casing or hopper is a handle 8 for swinging the barrel for the purpose described and for holding it firmly during the actuation of the firing mechanism.

A reciprocating plunger rod =9 is arranged to operate in the rear end of the bore 5and in the disk and is within a recess 10 and bore 11 formed 'respectively in the front and rear portionsof washer 12 forming an abutment {to engage the rear end of'the' barrel and limit its forward movement, and surrounding said plun: ger betweensaid abutment and 'the rear wall of the recess is a coiled spring 13 inclosed-Within said recess. This spring is upon a rearward movement-of the plunger and thereby placed under tensionito'force the plunger forward expel a projectile through't-he borer). The rear end of the plunger slides in the bore 11 and is provided with a laterally bent trigger arm 14: whereby said plunger is adapted to beretracted to energize the spring, as hereinafter de scribed; A tapered pin or key 1-2 is} fitted ioo in a transverse opening in the plunger to limit the forward movement of the abut ment and hold it in position.

The casing or hopper 2 is provided in its top with an opening 15 for the introduction into the hopper magazine of the projectiles 16, which may be in the nature of small balls or shot, a suitable cover or closure 17 for said opening being supplied to close the opening except at such time as when a supply of proj ectiles is being introduced. The projectiles are contained within a magazine or chamber 18, formed within the upper portion of the hopper or casing by sheet metal plates 19 secured to the opposite sides of the breech 4 and having extensions projecting upwardly in abutting contact with the top of the casing and cooperating therewith to form a magazine of requisite size to hold a desired number of projectiles. The projectiles feed, one by one, downwardly by gravity to the bore 5 through a feed passage 20 formed in the rear end of the barrel, said passage being of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the balls.

Preferably the passage 20 is extended to a point just below the bottom of the bore 5, at its point of intersection therewith to form a retaining pit or recess 21, in which the lowermost ball feeding downward through the passage 20 may seat itself and thus be held against displacement in position to be expelled by the plunger 9. The upper surface of the breech 4: is preferably made sloping so that the bottom wall of the hopper formed thereby will provide an inclined plane 22. This sloping surface or inclined plane adapts the balls to roll by gravity and to cluster ata point above the feed opening 20 to always insure a supply of the balls at the feed point and to prevent displacement of the balls rearwardly when the supply of balls within the magazine is nearly exhausted.

The plates 19 also form bearing members for a transverse actuating shaft 23 which extends through the breech 4 and outwardly through an opening in one side of the easing, the outer end of said shaft being bent to provide an actuating crank 2st. The trigger arm 14 of the plunger 9 is disposed below said shaft and extends outwardly at one side of the breech through registering slots 25 and 26 formed in the breech and one of the plates 19, in which slots the trigger arm is slidably mounted. Carried by the shaft 23 is a plunger actuating device in the form of one or more cam wings 27. A pair of diametrically disposed cam wings are shown in the present instance and each of these wings is provided with a curved longitudinal edge 28 and an opposed relatively flatter edge 29. converging at their outer ends to a point 30. Theedges 28 of the cam wings are arranged to successively engage and bear upon the trigger arm let at angles of 180 apart in the rotation of the shaft 23, so as to successively actuate the plunger on each revolution of the shaft, one of the wings acting in the first half revolution of the shaft to retract and release the plunger and the other acting on the second half revolution of the shaft to repeat this function. Thus it will be seen that as the surface 28 of each cam engages the trigger arm and forces the same backwardly, the plunger 9 will be retracted to compress the spring 13 and until the point 30 of the cam rides over and releases said arm, whereupon the plunger will be freed quickly for forward motion under the expansion of the spring to expel the projectile 16 seated in the recess 21. The construction described provides a firing mechanism which is not only simple of construction but positive and reliable in action and not liable to get easily out of order, while the described construction of the magazine insures the positive feed of the projectiles one by one to the barrel for expulsion until all of the projectiles contained within the magazine are fired or discharged.

In the operation of the gun, it will be understood that the cover 17 is opened and a desired number of the shot or projectiles 16 introduced through the opening 15 into the magazine 18, the projectiles feeding by gravity along the inclined surface 22 to the feed passage 20. The barrel being sighted or trained upon the desired object, the operator then holds the gun firmly in sighted position by grasping the handle 8 in one hand while the other hand is employed to continuously revolve the crank 24: in one direction. Through this action the cam wings 27 will retract the plunger and compress and energize the spring at frequent intervals for successive firing actions, thus enabling the projectiles to be rapidly expelled. It will be observed that the construction of the firing mechanism is simple and that as a result of this fact and the provision made for the positive feed of the projectiles choking or liability of derangement of the gun mechanism is avoided, a type of gun thus being provided which is not liable to easily get out of order and will.

last for a long period. It will of course be understood that the pedestal, barrel and casing may be made of wood or metal, and when made of wood may be painted to resemble the corresponding parts of a regular machine gun.

The described mounting of the abutment washer 12 and use of the pin 12 is of importance in assembling the parts of the firing mechanism. In doing this prior to the connection of the breech 'with the barrel, the

lunger rod 9 *is slidably inserted into the reech from the rear end thereof, so that the for-ward end-of the rod 'projects'beyond the forwardend of the barrel. The spring 13. is then inserted over the forward end of the rod and into the recess 10, after which the :washer 12 and retaining pin 12 are successively applied. It will be understood, of course, that the .pin 12 acts as a stop against which the washer 12 bears to form a rigid abutment to effect the *compression of the spring 13 when the plunger is drawn rearwardly for a spring tensio-ning act/ion.

While the device as above described is adapted to be operated by hand, I have shown in Fig. 7 the use of an automatic firing mechanism which may be employed if desired. As shown in this construction, a pinion 31 is mounted upon the outer end of the actuating shaft and is connected by a train of gearing 32 with a coiled motor spring 33 connected with a winding shaft 34 which may be provided with a key 35 for winding up the spring, which as it unwinds will actuate the firing mechanism in an obvious manner. For the purpose of locking the automatic firing mechanism against ac tion and controlling the action thereof, a locking device is provided comprising a sliding rod 36 supported and movable in guides 37 on the casing 2 and having at its rear end a finger loop 38 disposed in proximity to the hand grip 8. This rod 36 is provided with a 7 dog or detent finger 39 to engage the teeth of the driving gear 40 of the gear train 32, and a spring 11, connecting the forward end of the rod 36 with the casing 2, is provided to slide the rod-forward and normally hold the finger in engagement with the gear. It will be understood from this construction that by engagement of a finger grasping the grip 8 with the loop 38 the rod 36 may be drawn rearwardly to retract the finger 39 and thus release the gear 40 to control the action of the firing mechanism as desired by the operator, the spring 41 serving upon the release of the loop 38 to draw the finger back into locking engagement.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. A toy machine gun including a barrel having a bore, a feed passage intersecting the bore and extending below the line of the bore to form a pit or recess to contain the lower shot of a series of shots in said passage, and an expelling plunger for engaging the shot in the pit or recess and firing the same through the bore.

2. A toy machine gun including a barrel, a breech secured to the rear end of the barrel, said barrel being provided with a feed passage intersecting the bore thereof, and

- said breech having a sloping surface leading to said passage, means cooperating with the sloping "surface. of the breech to form a. magazine chamber, a plunger mounted in the barreland breech, andmeans' for actuating said plunger.

3. A toy machine gun comprising a barrel, a breech separate therefrom and secured thereto, said breech having a recess .at: its forward end -anda slot. in'its rear end communicating therewith, a rod extending through said recess and movable in said slot, an abutment washer surrounding the rod, *a

coiled spring surrounding the rod between said washer and the rear end wall of the recess, and a fastening pin entering the rod and confining the washer in position. 7

4. A toy machine gun comprising a barrel, a spring actuated discharge plunger, mechanism for actuating the plunger at intervals including a motor drivengear, a longitudinally sliding manually operable and spring retracted rod, and a detent controlled by the rod and the action of the spring to engage and hold the gear from rotation.

5. In a toy machine gun, a barrel having a bore, a breech havingra bore of larger diameter than the bore of the barrel and in register with the latter, a plunger movable longitudinally in said breech bore and extending at one end into the bore of the barrel, a washer carried by said plunger, an expansion spring in said breech bore and pressing at one end against said washer to normally hold the plunger extended, means for retracting said plunger, and the said barrel having a feed opening communicating with the bore thereof at a point inwardly from the end of said plunger when the same is extended.

6. In a toy machine gun, a barrel having a bore, a breech having a bore of larger diameter than the barrel bore and in register with the latter, a casing surrounding said breech and a part of said barrel, the said barrel having a feed opening therein establishing communication between the borethereof and the interior of said casing, plates secured to the sides of said breech and extending to the top of said casing, a plunger movable longitudinally in said breech bore, a washer carried by said plunger, a spring in said breech bore surrounding said plunger and bearing against said washer to normally hold the same engaged with the rear end of said barrel, the forward end of said plunger when extendedvbeing disposed beyond said feed opening, and means for retracting said plunger. w

7. In a toy machine gun, a body having a bore therein adaptedto receive projectiles, V

'a plunger within said bore for engaging and forcing the projectiles therefrom, an expans1on spring in said bore and encircling said plunger to force the latter to its limit of movement in one direction, the said body &

having a slot in one side thereof communieating With the bore, an angular portion upon said plunger constituting an arm eX- tending through said slot, a Wing member adapted to engage said arm to move the plunger against the tension of said spring, and means for rotating said Wing.

8. In a toy machine gun, a barrel, a spring actuated discharge plunger, a Wing member adapted to move said, plunger against the 10 tension of said spring, a spring actuated gear train for operating said Wing member, a rod, a detent on said rod adapted to engage in the teeth of one of the gears of said train, and means for yieldably holding said 15 rod With the detent locked in said gear.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

EDGAR H. LIGGON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

